Concón

CONCÓN, 10km north of Reñaca, is a strange sort of place: part concrete terraced apartment blocks, part elegant villas with flower-filled gardens, and part rundown, working-class fishing village, with six beaches spread out along the bay. When the wind is blowing south, nasty fumes drift over from the nearby oil refinery.

The most interesting bit of town is La Boca, the ramshackle commercial centre at the mouth of the Río Aconcagua. The caleta here was used to export the produce of the haciendas of the Aconcagua valley in the nineteenth century and is now a bustling fish quay, lined with modest marisquerías.

The most popular beaches are the rapidly developing Playa Amarilla and Playa Negra, south of La Boca, both good for bodyboarding. More attractive, and quieter, is Playa Ritoque, a long stretch of sand a few kilometres north of town.